


underneath the thick skin, there's a vulnerable young boy.

by vintageroseriver99



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Child Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-15
Updated: 2013-07-15
Packaged: 2017-12-20 07:28:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/884596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vintageroseriver99/pseuds/vintageroseriver99
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Snape finds out that Harry has been abused by his relatives and decides to make it his responsibility to deal with them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

Sifting carelessly through Potter's thoughts, why did the boy have no control whatsoever over his mind. Could he possibly be more lazy than his father? Was it humanly possible to be quite that lazy?

That wasn't what mattered at the moment, Snape was watching him remember every important memory in his life so why did a very random house keep coming up, and why did Harry seem to be better at pushing him out when he got too close to that. Snape didn't know, but if he was the stubborn old man every thought he was he would figure this out, purely out of curiosity.

A broom cupboard?

Running away from some older boys?

None of it made sense, why would such little things within his life matter?

Harry was still sweating heavily from his dream, if it could be called that. Yet he always seemed to be stronger after one, better at controlling his mind. Snape was still feeling curious about some of the things he had seen in Harry's mind but did not feel ready to ask about them yet, not until he was sure.

"Change in to this Potter." Snape said in a tone even more snarky than usual. He threw a grey t-shirt towards Harry - who caught it - and turned to walk to his desk.

"Where should I change Professor?" Harry asked innocently, there was no point in denying that he hadn't understood the intention.

"Here Potter. Really there's no need to flatter yourself, I have no desire to see you shirtless either but needs must and all that, now hurry up before I lose my patience!" Oh Dear, Harry thought, this wasn't going to go down well, even with Snape. He gulped before yanking the shirt off over his shoulders, hoping to be quick enough that the marks went unnoticed, but no such luck. As he fought to pull the t-shirt over his head and cover himself he knew that it was already too late. Snape had been facing his back when he removed his sweat-drenched shirt and had seen the deep welts in his back, his eyes widened and his jaw dropped. As soon as the boy had finally got the top on he slowly turned to look at his Professor, hoping to see that he had been preoccupied and not seen anything. Instead he saw the dark, intimidating man towering over him shamefully.

"Excuse me, Mr. Potter but I must ask you how you sustained those rather serious injuries on your back, don't try lying to me Potter it wastes both your time and mine, we both know your incapable of succeeding anyway." Everyone, including Snape, hated the way that he could speak without feeling in any situation, he could be a nervous wreck and still appear as uncaring as ever. He raised his eyebrow in Snape-like curiosity, waiting for a reply, when he didn't get one he persisted. "I would appreciate if you could answer me Mr. Potter."

"NO! Why should I tell you anything? Why do you even want to know? It's not like you care, and you already know what they are anyway so go on, start your teasing because I don't give a damn anymore! It's not like you want to help me with this tutoring anyway, you're probably spying for Voldemort yourself." Harry spat angrily, beginning to cry tears of rage as he spoke, Snape was in disbelief that the boy had made such an allegation.

"How dare you boy! After all this school and it's staff have gone through to protect you from the Dark Lord, you should be a little more grateful and go around throwing false accusations at people. And I'll have you know that YES, I do know what they are and I do care, because I would NEVER EVER tease anyone child or otherwise for being abused." Snape's eyes were filling with tears, Harry had Lily's temper and it always showed when he got angry and those eyes - those beautiful green eyes - seemed capable of burning a hole through you.

"As if! You're speaking like you know what I've been through, you don't know the half of it. You can't imagine what it feels like and you can't imagine it hurts! No-one can understand, especially heartless traitors like you. As soon as I've left you'll go over to Malfoy Manor and have a laugh about this over drinks, won't you!" Snape could feels the tears rolling down his cheeks and he wiped at them furiously with the sleeves of his robe.

"You dare say that to me, Potter, oh I don't know? I know alright young man! You're not the only one in this world who's ever had to suffer what you have, some of us prefer not to scream to the world about how unfair our little lives are!" Severus had to swallow down hard to stop a sob escaping, Harry was silent and looking at his professor like he had just been shot.

"I'm sorry Professor? I don't really understand what you're saying." Harry murmured nervously, hoping not to get a smack for speaking in that moment of silence. Snape huffed, defeated, before pulling off the cloak that shrouded him and placing it on the chair near him.

"If I ever find out you've spoken a word of this to anyone you'll find yourself scrubbing cauldrons for a year, understand me Potter?" He received a nod of understanding from Harry, then slowly raised to back of his polo-neck sweater to reveal the pale ivory skin beneath. Harry eyes fell on the thick scarred lines that covered the man's back, the marks running all the way along his spine.

"So you see Mr. Potter?" Pulling down the jumper to cover himself once more and reaching for the large black cloak that laid across the back of the desk chair. "You're not the only one who suffers." Harry had fallen to the ground not a few feet away, he was leant up against the wall and he sat silently, trying to take in what he had just seen. Shaking violently, he broke down into tears with his head in his hands, Snape sat across the room watching the boy as he weeped quietly. Please, Severus thought to himself, don't let him take the road I did. He has friends, he mustn't resort to that surely. Still unsure he looked towards the boys forearms, hoping to find reassurance but seeing only what he wished he wouldn't. There across the still bare arms of the young boy were more scars, these thinner and better-aligned in such a familiar way to his own.

"Oh dear, Potter, Harry if I may, you mustn't, not anymore you are safe here at Hogwarts and you can't be hurt anymore. Your friends can help you through this, and you have the headmaster and your head of house. That is not the way to deal with it, I know from personal experience that it doesn't help." He rose slowly to walk towards the boy, in an attempt to comfort him he leant down and put a hand on his shoulder reassuringly. Although Harry had jumped at first, he did not shy away or shrug it off, he only looked at Snape, square in the face with his expression blank and undeterminable.

"I'm sorry, Professor. I was always so horrible to you and I assumed that you had no reason, that you were just a spiteful old man but you had every right after all the mean things I said to you and I didn't mean to hurt your feelings or to accuse you of things that you didn't do and I'm sorry for all the other things I've done to you over my years at Hogwarts. And I'm sorry that you had to go what I am going through." Harry was speaking at a ripping speed and wasn't really making sense but all the same, Severus understood his meaning: He was sorry.

"Wait Harry, why do you speak in the present tense. You live at Hogwarts and surely it isn't someone here. Your summers are spent with family who treat you well so who would do this to you? I swear not to relay this information to anyone but I must know if I am to fully understand." Harry was enraged, he watched Snape's furrowed brow raise expectantly, how could he come to such a conclusion.

"WHAT? Sorry for being indignant Sir but WHAT? What in Merlin's name possessed you to think I was 'well-treated' as you so eloquently put it. I'm hated for what I am, my relatives are the ones that do this to me, and I still have to go home to them every summer. It's unfair!" Severus couldn't process this in his head, he couldn't feel anger or shock or anything, he couldn't feel anything besides confusion.

"But...you were placed with muggles. They aren't supposed to know 'what you are'. Wait, who are you living with? Because I'm really hoping I've come to the wrong conclusion!" No way, he thought internally, not even Dumbledore would stoop so low as to place the boy with them.

"The headmaster placed me with my Aunt Petunia and her husband and son. They all hate magic, and by extension, hate me." Severus gasped and he felt like he was about to scream! How could Albus ever do that, even he couldn't be ignorant enough to believe the boy would be treated well there.

"Oh I know they hate magic Harry, Petunia Evans has hated magic since the moment Lily got accepted in to Hogwarts. She was jealous, so she pretended to not want to be a witch even though everyone in her family knew she was envious of Lil'. She always teased me and your mother about being 'freaks'" He saw Harry shudder at the mention of the word, obviously it was popular terminology in his everyday life. "I just can't believe that the Headmaster would allow you to be placed there, you'd be better off brought up by a death-eater for Merlin's sake!"

"But Sir, how did you even know my mother? And why did Professor Dumbledore send me there?" Severus' eyes narrowed at that conversation, it sure would be fun to ask the blessed old fool why he felt it necessary to send an innocent child to live with abusive dunderhead muggles like them, even James Potter's son!

"Your mother and I were best friends, that particular tale is for another day though. I believe our classes can be postponed until a later date while I try to find an answer to your second question, okay?"

"Okay then. Goodnight Sir."

"Goodnight Potter."


	2. Chapter Two

Striding up the hallway with a mind like thunder, Snape walked up to the statue and stated the password "Sherbet Lemon" without slowing to wait, it appeared. As he walked up the stairs and in to the office, he was greeted by the same friendly old man, and he felt sick.

"Why? How could you send Harry to live with THEM of all people, really Albus?" His sharp tone rang in the ears of the somewhat startled man across from him. As Severus sunk in to the chair, waiting for an explanation he was faced only with the same sympathetic expression.

"I assume you mean Vernon and Petunia-"

"Yes I damn well do!"

"-Alright, there's no need to have a fit now, my boy. Now, I sent the boy there because they're his only living family and they were the only muggles who would taken a small child at that point. You should be grateful to them for raising Lily's child Severus." Snape looked at his elder with a snarl and a face rich with disdain, how unobservant can this man really be? He asked himself. Could he really of missed all the signs?

"Albus, if you call that raising a child then I can't imagine how you'd treat a child you don't like! That woman has hated magic nearly her whole life, surely you know that by now!" Severus was getting really angry now, was this man blind or just stupid?

"My boy, they took that child in when nobody else would and fed him, clothed him, gave him a roof over his head and sent him to school. What more could you ask of anyone who got landed with a child they never asked for?" By merlin's beard Snape thought he really didn't know!

"Albus, they've been treating the boy like a house-elf for the last 10 years! He probably gets scraps to eat, hand-me-down clothes, a floor to sleep on and he most likely didn't go to school. HE'S BEEN ABUSED ALBUS, HE TOLD NO-ONE!" The headmaster's eyes widened and his jaw dropped to the ground, Severus managed to regain the majority of his composure and speak in his normal tone."Now, I won't be discussing this with you any further, and you will NOT be discussing this with young Mr. Potter. I was just to curious as to how much you actually knew but it seems you were oblivious. Goodnight Headmaster." He turned to head back to the door, Albus didn't have the strength to say goodnight just mutter unintelligibly to himself. Snape left with one thought in his mind, one thought alone;

Harry will not be going back there.

Albus was left with one lone thought as well; How will he ever forgive me for this?


	3. Chapter Three

Severus was up late grading papers when there was a quiet knocking at the door, almost as if it wasn't supposed to be heard, he frowned before making his way toward the door equipped with his wand. He opened the door and found a crying Harry stood there in his pyjamas, he was about to shout at the boy for being out of bed at such an hour but he managed not to.

"Come in Mr. Potter." The boy walked in briskly and sat down on the sofa which was never used. "Perhaps you could tell me why you came to see me in the middle of the night?" Harry looked as though he had just woken from a dream and realized his surroundings, he shot up from where he sat and spoke.

"I'm so sorry Sir, I must have sleep-walked here, I tend to do that if I'm having a particularly bad dream though usually it isn't very far. I must have woken you, please forgive me Professor!" Honestly, Snape thought, did the boy know when to stop talking?

"Sorry to disappoint you Harry but I was up late anyway. Would you please sit down and I will get us some tea, one of the house elves will still be up. Maybe you can tell me what all this is about, hmm?" Severus raised his eyebrow in the way only he could and then called Mimi, the elf who was stuck with the night shift. He ordered them both tea as well as a couple of biscuits for Harry.

When they were both sat down and Harry began to sip delightedly at the warm mug in his hands, Snape broke the ice. "So, are you going to tell me, why you ended up outside my door at after midnight?" At this Harry lowered his head so that it was almost in his lap, and sighed outwardly.

"Whenever I have a 'nightmare' I like to go walking, it calms me down afterwards and usually it's fine because I wake myself up and I can just walk around the tower a few times but if the dream is particularly bad then I don't wake up and I find myself on the other side of the castle. I try my best to avoid it happening because last time it did I got caught by Professor Umbridge, she said she'd kill me if she saw he again and I don't think she was speaking metaphorically." The most worrying thing was that such an allegation could be believed, even by someone like Snape, Umbridge was too harsh on the children, by anybody's standards.

"I hope you know that that could never happen here, I wouldn't put it past Umbridge to try but every teacher at Hogwarts would stand against her if she ever tried to hurt a student." Harry nodded, nothing that he wanted to say. "More to the point, this 'dream' what was it about?"

"I really don't want to talk about Professor, sorry but it's kind of uncomfortable to speak about. I must apologize again to interrupting your night, please forgive me-" He was interrupted by a glare from his elder, a knowing glare that silently said - SHUT UP! - and he complied. "Sorry Sir." Severus raised his eyebrow and Harry realized what he had said and had to purse his lips in order to stop laughing.

"We'll speak about this more tomorrow Mr. Potter. Are you okay to go back to your tower or would you like to stay in my spare room for the night? As you said, I don't think Professor Umbridge would like the thought of you wandering around the castle at this time of night."

"I would appreciate staying here Sir, it would raise a lot of questions to turn up in the middle of the night. As long as it wouldn't be too much trouble. I'm sorry to be a burden to you Professor." As soon as he realized what he said he couldn't help but giggle, he rose to turn away from his potions master, and retain some of his dignity.

"Goodnight then Mr. Potter. You'd best get to bed, ask the house elves for anything you need." As he reached the door, Harry turned to be greeted with a smile from a man he had never, in all his life, seen smile properly, only fake one if forced to.


	4. Chapter Four

Practically running out of the spare room, Harry slammed the door behind him and tried to find his Professor - if he was still there - to say thank you and apologize for last night. Harry had stopped paying full attention to where he was going as he hurried through the corridors of Snape's quarters, only to run straight in to a tall lean figure that could be no-one else, how awkward, Harry thought.

"I'm soooo sorry Professor, I didn't mean to sleep in but Ron usually wakes me up in time for breakfast. I should probably be going before I cause you any more trouble. Thank you for letting me sleep down here last night, it was a lot easier to sleep when I was at ease." With a grateful smile on his face, Harry was about to make his leave when he was interrupted by a hand pulling on his robes - which he had found the end of his bed assumedly conjured - and yanking him towards the table where a small breakfast was laid out. Not wanting to make any wrong presumptions, he waited for Snape to speak - who eventually did - and give him further instruction as to what he was supposed to be doing there.

"Eat some breakfast please Mr. Potter. You're more tired than usual after last night's little ordeal, and you've always been a skinny lout...you need some meat on your bones." Although he felt defeated in his quest to refuse, he wasn't displeased by the fact he got to have breakfast even though he was late up, so he smiled thankfully before sitting down at the table and waiting for Snape to sit down, he couldn't have eaten yet there aren't this many leftovers surely. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon never left more than a crust of bread or something similar at breakfast, there were plates full here, almost as much as in the great hall. Snape was beginning to feel confused by the boy's actions, why hadn't he started eating yet? Why was he looking up towards him so expectantly? "Is there something I can do for you Potter, or are you going to start eating your breakfast?"

"Sorry Sir, I just assumed..." Then it clicked, a light switched on in Snape's head and everything became clear, he had been exaggerating when he said they were feeding him scraps but perhaps he'd been right. The boy was terribly small and slight for his age, and he never seemed to eat a lot at mealtimes. Harry had picked up a slice of toast and was nibbling at the corner of it, if he kept on at this rate they'd be here all morning before he had a decent-sized meal inside of him.

"Harry, food is one thing I will never deprive you of, that among other things is your right. I know it's difficult to accept that you're not the freak -" Harry eyes widened at the mention of that word. "- they say you are. See, I've been through the same things as you, survived the same struggles. I may act like I don't like you Mr. Potter but even I wouldn't do that to a child."

"I'm sorry Sir, I'd never expect you to stop me from eating, I just thought I'd wait to see if you were going to eat first. No matter, I've almost done." The boy was still eating the same half-slice of toast, he was nearly finished with it though. Oh, Snape thought, he thinks he can get away with a meal that small.

"Oh no you're not, I expect to see at least two full slices of toast gone as well as however many eggs you can eat. I won't allow you to go hungry while you're here with me! Now eat some more please!" Harry hurried to try and get down some more toast but couldn't stomach any eggs at this time in the morning, Severus had taken refuge on the nearby sofa while he waited for the boy to finish. He had seen the boy, pretending to eat some eggs but it wouldn't do, surely the boy wouldn't object to eating food when it was offered to him.

"Please may I be excused Sir? I don't want to miss any more of my lessons this morning and I have eaten more than enough."

"Well, if you're sure you can't eat anymore then you can go but I'd like you to stay behind at the end of potions, there's somewhere I need to take you and I don't think it can wait for much longer. You may stay in your normal lessons up until then though, see you this afternoon Harry." Snape said as he watched the boy make his way towards the door, he turned the handle and opened it before looking back to smile, with those eyes smiling too - his mothers eyes.


	5. Chapter Five

After a rather eventful potions class, Harry told his friends that he wanted to stay behind and talk to the professor about something, and though they looked confused, they were convinced. Everyone filed out of the room leaving only Harry, stood behind the work bench, waiting for Snape's return. He was stood for nearly five minutes in silence before Snape popped his head around the corner of his private office and raised his eyebrows expectantly.

"Mr. Potter, is there a reason you are standing there, doing nothing?"

"I'm sorry Sir, I didn't think you'd want me to come in to your office so I thought I best just wait out here until you came out to speak to me about...Well what is it you wanted to speak to me about again?" Harry said, walking towards Severus from across the room, with his books tucked under his arm and when he reached him, Severus moved backwards and ushered him in to the office that had always been such a mystery to students, with only the very worst children being taken there for punishment, never any house but Slytherin either.-

"I didn't tell you, nor will I before we get there. We're going to floo if you don't mind because I can't be bothered with walking the length of the school right now. It takes too long in a castle as big as this one." Harry nodded and asked where he was supposed to be flooing to, hoping that he would be allowed to go first in case he said it wrong, which most likely would happen after the mishap at the burrow.

"Just say Poppy's Office, we won't be going too far so you can't really get lost. I'll see you when I arrive, don't even think about running off when you get there because I won't be more than a few seconds behind you." Harry frowned, but then nodded, why would I run off? He asked himself. "There's the floo powder." Snape said, directing his eye line to a small cauldron on the mantle.

Harry stood in the fireplace and threw down the powder and stated his intended destination, correctly this time! As soon as he arrived, he tried to figure out where he was and as soon as he did, he knew why Snape had told him not to run. He was in the hospital wing, why though? Just as he managed to straighten himself out, Severus arrived in a lot more style than he did, simply walking out of the flames as if it were normal.

"Why would you bring me here Sir? There's nothing wrong with me, is there? I mean, I'm fine really. I don't want everyone in the school knowing what you know about me! Please, can't we just leave, if you're worried for my health can't you just carry out the tests yourself, I know your trained in medicine almost as well as Madame Pomfrey anyway-" Snape cut the boy off with a hand, he couldn't think straight when all he could hear was mindless rambling.

"Be quiet if you please Harry. I am not nearly as well trained as Madame Pomfrey, and yes I am concerned for your health, this morning brought to light the fact that you are very malnourished and unhealthily small for your age. Now it's up to you, the most comfortable option for everyone is if you allow me to put Madame Pomfrey under an oath even stronger than her medi-witch one, swearing her to confidentiality. However, if you would still feel uncomfortable with her knowing, I could obliviate her memories afterwards and though that wouldn't be very pleasant for any of us, I would understand if that's what you would prefer." Harry had been listening intently to his every word, considering his every option and trying to understand every little detail of the explanation.

"I'd feel guilty for taking her memories, do you promise me that she wouldn't be able to tell anyone if you put her under the oath? I want it to be more than just a normal oath though because I'd worry that she'd find a loophole, I want...I want her to make an unbreakable vow." Severus was shocked, his jaw had dropped, his eyes were bulging and his stomach was doing flips out of pure surprise that the boy even knew what an unbreakable vow is.

"If that's what you really want." All Snape could manage to say, he grabbed the sleeve of Harry's robes and pulled him out in to the infirmary where they found Poppy in a ward of empty beds, she heard them coming and turned to see who it was, when she did she huffed as though she had been hoping it was anyone other than Potter.

"Ohh, Mr. Potter! Not again, what have you done this time?" She asked while she finished making the bed which had sort of become Harry's, every time he got hurt he would stay in this bed ever since first year. "Come and have a lie down while I check you over then." She hushed her tone so that Harry couldn't hear as well but he had exceptionally good hearing and could still make out the majority of the conversation. It wasn't very exciting at the beginning, Madame Pomfrey asked what had happened and Snape told her about the unbreakable vow, she was shocked but agreed quite quickly.

Once the spell had been cast and the vow had been made, Severus went on to tell her what had happened and that he was in need of a full medical history that couldn't be tainted by glamour charms. The spell was cast and a roll of parchment was conjured, it began to fill itself with a long list:

10 x Broken Fingers

2 x Broken Arms

2 x Broken Wrists

2 x Broken Legs

2 x Broken Ankles

10 x Broken Toes

2 x Broken Hips

2 x Broken Shoulders

Intensive Spinal Bruising

...

The list kept going for another five minutes or so listing damage to almost every bone, muscle, organ and tissue in his body, as well as all the exterior damage he had sustained to his skin, and the mental damage he had suffered. Even Poppy, who had seen some of the worst injuries ever sustained by a wizard or witch and healed them ,was shocked.

"For Merlin's sake, what the hell were those muggles doing to him for all those years Severus, they treated him like a punching bag!" She counteracted all of the glamour charms he had cast and only then did they see the real damage that had been done, it was ten times as worse as anyone could imagine, nobody could do this to another human being without showing some sense of remorse, Snape thought, no-one except the Dark Lord would do this, yet Petunia Evans and her family could. "We need to start healing him Severus,who knows how long it's going to take to get him back to normal!"

"OH NO! You said you would keep any information you found out today to yourself and that you wouldn't act upon anything you discovered unless completely necessary, I am not going to spend months in this hospital ward. I'll come however many times a day you like but I will still attend as many classes as is possible, and I will not be staying here overnight." When did the boy become so feisty like his mother? Snape wondered, even if he did see some of Potter's ignorance in the boy, he had to admit that he had inherited a lot from his mother too.

"Fine then Harry," Poppy looked absolutely distraught that Severus had given in so easily, so he pulled her a little out of earshot and said: "Poppy, the boy has the same determination as Lily, we'll never make him change his mind. Now I might, and I say might, be able to persuade him into staying with me in my quarters for the next month then during the summer, well he won't to go back to the Dursleys after this so he can stay with me then too, it's less of a try than getting him to stay here for the months to come." Madame Pomfrey nodding, knowing that he was right and that hopefully the boy could be made to stay with Snape, no matter how much they appeared to dislike each other.

Turning back to Harry again, Snape looked pleased with himself, and his plans for Harry. "Would you mind coming back to my quarters with me again Harry? I have all the potions you'll need there and it means you don't have to stay here anymore as soon as Madame Pomfrey is finished with you." Harry nodded enthusiastically, anywhere was better than the hospital wing, he didn't want to be treated like an invalid and Snape was pretty good at that if nothing else.

Harry would become his ward. Harry might become his son. Anything could happen now, and anything would.


End file.
